Swimming pool circulatory system



Jan. 26, 1970 J. F. OGDEN 3, 9 ,081

SWIMMING POOL CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Filed March 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. JOHN F. OGDEN waAza Y ATTORNEY Jan. 20, 1970 J. F. OGDEN3,4QQ83 SWIMMING POOL CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Filed March 24, 1967 2Sheets-Sheet 2 -78 I NVENTOR. JOHN F. OGDEN A T TORNEY United StatesPatent 3,490,081 SWIMMING POOL CIRCULATORY SYSTEM John F. Ogden, 3005Olive St., Columbus, Ohio 43204 Filed Mar. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 625,811Int. Cl. E04h 3/20 US. Cl. 4172.17 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURESwimming pool water is fed into a swimming pool by means of acircumferential supply pipe surrounding the outside of the pool walls ina crawl space, and a plurality of conduits branching from the supplypipe at spaced intervals, which conduits are connected through sleevesin the pool walls to a plurality of nozzles at similarly spacedintervals positioned at the inner surface of the pool walls below thewater surface.

Swimming pool water is removed from the pool by a surface draincomprising a guttter chute formed by an outward, downward pitch in thetop of the pool walls, a peripheral gutter trough adjacent to, parallelto, and longitudinally co-extensive with the pool walls, and acorrugated sheet seated on the gutter chute covering the gutter troughand itself conformably covered with concrete. Pitched decks providedrainage from the deck, the gutter troughs are continuously rinsed withclean chlorinated water fed through a tube connecting the supply pipewith the gutter trough. A non-corrosive high expansion piping system isused.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The circulatorysystem described in this application relates generally to the input andremoval of liquid from liquid containing tanks. So, for example, itcould be used in the treatment of sewage or the mixture and processingof chemicals. However, as described in the preferred em bodiments, thecirculatory system is particularly applicable to the field of swimmingpools and their construction and maintenance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART With a swimming pool, it is necessary, orat least desirable, to provide a water circulation system. Water mustcontinuously be removed, filtered, and pumped back into the pool. Thepurpose of the circulation system is to remove water with foreignmaterial in it from the pool, remove the foreign material from thewater, and return clean water into the pool.

The modern swimming pool is generally provided with both a large floordrain for the removal of water and the sediment it contains and alsosurface drains for the re moval of surface water and the surface bornebody oils, suntan lotion, and debris it contains. Water removed by thesedrains is pumped through a filter and returned to the pool throughperipheral water inlets.

Prior to my invention, the peripheral water inlets have been considereddifiicult and expensive to construct, install, and maintain. As aresult, pools are often constructed with the water inlets spaced apartas far as local building codes will permit. Because of this spacing,there are regions in the pool where relatively little water circulationoccurs. These regions are termed dead spots. Such dead spots exist inthe corners of the pool and between the water inlets. At these deadspots, sediment, algae, and bacteria tend to collect. There is thereforea need for an inlet system which will permit elimination of these deadspots.

3,490,081 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 The reason that peripheral water inletsare diflicult and expensive to construct, install, and maintain is thatthe inlet piping system is buried either in hardened concrete or in theterrain below the concrete. If a defect occurs in such a buried pipingsystem and needs repair, the defective part of the system is almosttotally inaccessible. Making repairs and replacements becomes extremelydifficult and expensive.

Furthermore, desirable non-corrosive piping, made of plastic forexample, may not be used in a buried system because of its largecoefiicient of expansion. There is therefore a need for an inlet systemwhich is easily ac cessible for repairs and which can be constructed ofnoncorrosive piping materials.

The surface drains now provided for pools are usually gutters having abottom below the water surface and having an inward side just above thewater level. Waves or ripples in the water carry water into thesegutters. Such gutters may be longitudinally inclined to cause the Waterto flow by gravitational force to a single outlet. Alternatively, suchgutters may be equipped with periodically spaced outlets. In eithercase, at least two disadvantages can be noted.

First, because gutters, as now constructed, have a solid outermost wallopposite their innermost wall, waves of appreciable magnitude willsplash across the inner gutter wall, hit the outer gutter wall, and bereflected back into the pool carrying out with them not only the foreignmaterial the waves brought into the gutter, but also some of the foreignmaterial which had settled in the gutter from prior waves. Furthermore,foreign materials often collect in these gutters. This occurs becausethe velocity of water flowing along the gutter to an outlet is too slow.the velocity is too slow because the longitudinal incline of the gutteris too slight. This incline is limited by the fact that the innermostgutter wall must remain slightly above the water level all along eachwall. The slowness of the velocity of the gutter water has an additionaldetrimental effect. If the rate of flow of water along such a gutter issmall, relatively few gallons of water may be filtered per minute. Amore rapid water flow would allow a more rapid water cleaning rate.There is, therefore, a great need for a surface drain which willefiiciently remove all the water and foreign material passing into thegutter and will do this at a high rate of flow.

OBJECTS It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an improvedpool circulatory apparatus.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which willremove foreign material from water located in all parts of the pool.

A further object of my invention is to provide more eflicient removal ofwater and foreign material through a splash trough outlet.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus whichwill permit the cleaning of pool water at a rapid rate.

A yet further object of my invention is to permit the the exclusive useof non-corrosive piping and to provide an entirely accessiblecirculatory system.

Further objects and features of my invention will be apparent from thisspecification and the following claims when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings illustrating several embodiments of myinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have invented a pool outlet and outlet systemand apparatus.

The inlet apparatus comprises a circumferential supply pipe surroundingthe pool within a crawl space which supplies water to a plurality ofnozzles, spaced around the inner periphery of the pool, each nozzlebeing fed through a separate conduit from the supply pipe to the nozzle.

The outlet apparatus comprises an outwardly, downwardly inclined gutterchute around the periphery of the water, a coextensive gutter troughhaving some longitudinal slope and positioned below and adjacent to theouter side of the gutter chute, and a corrugated sheet positioned on thegutter chute and extending over the gutter trough.

This system and apparatus provide a pool having adequate watercirculation everywhere within the pool. Dead spots are eliminated. Theadvantages of modern inexpensive non-corrosive material may be appliedto pool circulatory systems. All portions of the apparatus areconveniently accessible and easily replaced. Water is cleaned at agreatly increased rate, and foreign material is more thoroughly andefficiently removed from the pool. Other advantages will become obviousfrom the description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of aswimming pool, with a section removed, the embodiment being constructedaccording to my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section of a portion of a swimming pool constructedaccording to my invention and taken substantially along the line 22 inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a View in section taken substantially along the line 3-3 inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in section, similar to FIG. 2, but showing anotherembodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view in section and in perspective of a fragment of anotherembodiment of my invention.

In describing the preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated inthe drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake ofclarity. However, it is not intended to be limited to the specific termsso selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includesall technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner toaccomplish a similar purpose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Stn1cture.A swimmingpool constructed according to my invention is shown in FIG. 1. The poolhas a floor 10, four inner walls of which two inner walls 12 and 14 arevisible. Four outer walls enclose the pool and its circulatory system.Only one outer wall 16 and a portion of another outer wall 18 arevisible. A peripheral deck 20 surrounds the pool and rests on the innerand outer pool walls. A plurality of nozzles, like nozzles 22 and 23,are shown protruding from the inner surfaces of the inner walls 12 and14. Below some of the nozzles, as below nozzle 22, is a winter drainoutlet such as winter drain outlet 24. Each portion of the deck 20 ispitched toward its longitudinal center so that it is concave. Spacedalong the lowest level of the deck are a plurality of deck drain holes,like deck drain hole 26, which may be covered with a suitable grating. Afloor drain 19 is located on the pool floor 10.

A portion of the wall 18 and the deck 20 have been removed to expose aportion of an embodiment of my circulatory system. Two buttresses, likethe buttress 28, are shown, each having its inner end butting againstthe outer surface of the inner wall as at 30. In addition to serving asbuttresses the buttresses support a portion of a gutter trough 32. Aportion of a supply pipe 34 also rests on the buttress, as at 36, ansupplies water to the peripheral nozzles through conduits (not visiblein FIG. 1). A portion of the corrugated sheet 40 which is positioned onthe gutter trough 32, and on which the deck was poured, is visible incross section. Substantially similar structure is below the remainder ofthe deck 20 around the whole pool.

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken substantially along the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1. The floor 10, one inner wall 11, another inner wall 12, the deck20, and outer Wall 18 are shown.

The buttress 28 butts against the inner wall 11 and supports the guttertrough 32 and the supply pipe34. In FIGURE 2, the gutter trough 32 andthe inner wall 11 are a unitary body. The supply pipe 34 supplies waterto a nozzle 44 through a conduit means 46 which passes through a sleeve48. The conduit means comprises the elbows, tubes, and other connectors,the selection and design of which could be done by anyone with ordinaryskill in the art. I prefer that the supply pipe 34, the conduit means46, the sleeve 48, and the nozzle 44 all be constructed of anon-corrosive material such as synthetic plastic. A small rinse pipe 50,through the gutter trough wall, supplies water from the supply pipe 34to rinse the gutter trough 32. This may, for example, have one tenth theca acity of the conduit means 46.

A cylindrical tube with an enlarged end portion has been molded into theconcrete to provide a winter drain outlet 52. The enlarged end of thewinter drain outlet 52 has internal threads mating with the externalthreads on a removable closure 54.

The deck 20 comprises a corrugated sheet 56, with concrete conformablyresting upon it. The deck is pitched so that water will drain toward thedeck drain hole 58, having a grating 60 covering it. The portion of thepool floor 10 which is the fiood of the crawl space below the deck 20 ispitched to form a trough 61. Additionally, this trough is pitchedlongitudinally to carry any water to a suitable outlet. At the junctionof the inner pool walls I prefer to use a keyway, tongue, and waterstop.The inner wall 11 has a tongue 63 fitted into a keyway 65 in the poolfloor. A waterstop 67 has been molded transverse of the tongue 63 andthe keyway 65.

FIG. 2 also shows the detail of the gutter chute 62 which is formed byan outward, downward incline in the top surface of the inner wall 11.Between the lower portions of the gutter chute 62 and the bottom surfaceof the corrugated sheet 56 are a series of adjoining openings whichconnect the gutter chute 62 with the gutter trough 32.

These adjoining openings, such as opening 64, are more clearly visiblein FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a view in section taken substantially along theline 33 of FIG. '2. In FIG. 3, the deck 20 can be seen as conformablyabove and adjacent to the corrugated sheet 56.

Also shown in FIG. 3 are the pool floor 10, buttress 28, the guttertrough 32, the rinse pipe 50, and the conduit means 46.

The structures shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are, of course, repeatedaround the whole pool. Each nozzle is supplied by a conduit meansconnecting the nozzle to the supply pipe which surrounds ths pool.

The structure shown in FIG. 4 is constructed and positionedsubstantially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 and includesthe floor 70, the outer wall 72, the deck 74, the deck drain hole 76,the grating 78, the corrugated sheet 80, the gutter chute 82, the supplypipe 84, the conduit means 86, the sleeve 88, the nozzle and thewaterstop 91.

The gutter trough 92, however, is a body separate from the inner poolwall 94, and is formed from a sheet of metal or other suitable material.This separate gutter trough 92 is supported by buttresses like buttress96.

The separate metal gutter trough 92, shown in FIG. 4, like the guttertrough 32 shown in FIG. 2, must be positioned so that water, splashedonto the gutter chute 82, will, by gravity, drain through the series ofadjoining openings 98 into the gutter trough 92.

As another embodiment of my invention (not shown) the buttress 96 couldbe replaced by a structural steel frame.

FIG. 5 shows in perspective and in section the detail of the preferredembodiment of my invention.

The pool floor 110 may be on or embedded in the surrounding terrain. Thepool inner wall 111 has formed as an extension thereof the gutter trough114. The top of the inner Wall 111 is downwardly, outwardly inclined toform the gutter chute 116. A waterstop 117 is constructed at thejunction of the inner wall 111 with the fioor 110. The buttress 118butts against the inner wall 111 at 120 and supports the gutter trough114 and the supply pipe 122 which surrounds the pool. Conduit means,such as an elbow 124, a fitting 126, a tube 128, and fittings 130, carrywater from the supply pipe 122 to a portion of the inner surface 132 ofthe inner wall 111. At this inner surface, a nozzle (not visible) isconnected to the conduit means.

A sheet of corrugated material 140, which I prefer to be 1 /2"corrugated transite, rests on the gutter chute 116 and has concrete 142conformably adjacent to and above it to form the deck. Of the series ofadjoining openings formed by the space between the corrugated material140 and the gutter chute 116 and connecting the gutter chute 116 withthe gutter trough 114, only a portion of one opening 144 is visible. Atubular winter drain outlet 146 provides a passageway through the innerwall 111 when the threaded closure (not visible) is removed from itsinner end.

The walls, gutter trough, buttresses and deck may be pre-cast insegments and assembled at the building site. The inner walls and guttertrough could be formed separately or could be pre-cast as a unitary bodyas shown in FIG. 5.

Operation.-From a filtration unit, water is pumped along the supply pipe34 shown in FIG. 1. Because this pipe 34 is not buried but rather istotally exposed in the crawl space below the deck 20, it may be made ofa noncorrosive material, and furthermore is at all points accessible forrepair or replacement. It may expand and contract. The individualconduit means, connecting the pipe 34 to nozzles 22, 23, etc. such asthe conduit means 46 in FIG. 2, are free to flex.

Simultaneously, water flows from the supply pipe 34 through all theconduit means, similar to conduit means 46, to the several nozzles, likenozzle 23, spaced around the inner surfaces of the inner pool Walls.Thus water is continuously entering the pool from closely spaced inletswhich are positioned so that there can be no dead spots in the pool. Thewater is in constant movement. It is always circulating. I construct thenozzles so that the incoming streams will be directed in a downwarddirection. The downward flow of water from each of the inlet nozzlesprovides a sweeping action on the bottom of the pool. This inhibits thecollection of sediment on the bottom ofthe pool and the growth of algaeand bacteria. Any foreign matter in the vicinity of the pool floor isswept up by the current from the several nozzles.

Because all of the conduit means, such as conduit means 46, are exposedin the crawl space, they too are accessible for replacement or repair.They may, with little manipulation, be detached from or connected to thesleeves through the inner walls, such as sleeve 48. Furthermore, becausethey are not buried, they may be constructed of a non-corrosive materialsuch as plastic. Expansion and contraction will not damage thecirculatory system.

In operation, the surface drain constructed according to my inventionprovides greatly improved cleaning of the pool and the water. As inother surface drain systems, water enters my surface drain by beingsplashed over the high edge of the gutter chute, like gutter chute 116in FIGURE 5. However, when prior art surface drains are used, water,with foreign material in it, may be reflected back into the pool and,furthermore, sediment may collect in the splash chute.

With my surface drain, no substantial reflection or bouncing back of thewater can occur because my drain provides a continuous series ofadjoining openings which the water 'will pass through rather than beingreflected. Water will not stand in the gutter chute waiting to drain outat a particular drain. This immediate and continuous movement from thepool, down the chute into the gutter trough, does not allow time for theforeign materials to settle out of the water onto the guttter chute. Thewater will immediately fall into the gutter trough where it willimmediately be swiftly carried away. Because of the number, size, andposition of the openings, and because of the size andposition of thegutter trough, water may be drained at a very rapid rate from thesurface. Therefore, it can be seen that my gutter chute will not fillwith water due to the activity in the pool even of many people. In mysurface drain there are no grates to become clogged. A surface drainconstructed according to my invention can remove over 600 gallons ofwater per minute from the pool.

There are also instances when very few persons are in the pool causingwaves. To thoroughly clean the gutters under such a condition, severalrinse tubes, like rinse tube 50 shown in FIG. 2, may be provided tocontinuously provide a stream of clean chlorinated water along thegutter. The streams of clean chlorinated water from the rinse tubes,like rinse tube 50, constantly serve to begin the process of treatingthe oils and bacteria in the water removed from the pool surface. Thus,the water purification treatment actually begins in the gutter troughand is not delayed until the water has drained from the trough into thefilter system.

The deck in FIG. 2 is shown pitched so that it is concave. Any waterwhich gets on the deck, for example, by the splashing of swimmers, flowsthrough the several deck drains onto the trough formed in the pool flooralong the crawl space. Due to the longitudinal pitch of the trough, thewater flows by gravity to a suitable outlet. This longitudinal pitchgenerally runs from the shallow end of the pool downward toward the deepend.

As shown best in FIG. 2, I provide also several winter drain outletslike outlet 52. As winter approaches, the incoming water is shut off andthe threaded closures, like closure 54, are removed from the winterdrain outlets. The majority of the water drains from the pool leaving ashallow layer of water. Any rain or melted snow will not be able toraise the level of water but rather will be immediately drained off.Nevertheless, a shallow layer of water remains to protect the pool inwinter. The next spring the closures are replaced in the winter drainoutlets and the pool is filled.

It is to be understood that while the detailed drawings and specificexamples given describe preferred embodi ments of my invention, they arefor the purposes of illustration only, that the apparatus of theinvention is not limited to the precise details and conditionsdisclosed, and that various changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention which is defined by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a pool comprising walls and a bottom and intended to containliquid, a surface drain comprising (1) a gutter chute having its higheredge substantially level with the top surface of said liquid andsurrounding at least a portion of the periphery of said liquid;

(2) a gutter trough having one of its upper edges adjacent to the loweredge of said gutter chute and longitudinally coextensive therewith; and

(3) an imperforate corrugated sheet positioned on said gutter chute, andextending above and over said gutter trough, having its corrugationstransverse to said gutter chute and having a paving material conformablythereon for providing a pool deck. 2. The surface drain according toclaim 1 comprising (1) a vertical pool wall portion having an inclinedtop surface; (2) a flange portion extending horizontally from anintermediate portion of said wall; and (3) a vertical gutter trough walladjacent to, extending above, and co-extensive with said flange portion.3. The surface drain of claim 1 wherein the pool deck is concrete pouredon said corrugated sheet and is slanted downward toward said splashchute.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary ExaminerT. A. GRANGER, Assistant Examiner

